CAMBRIDGE, Ont. – N.R. Murphy Limited, a manufacturer of dust collectors, fans, and similar equipment for workplaces in many sectors, has passed the torch to new owners.

The Ontario company has announced that former sales manager Helder Armas has taken over the reins as the new president. Armas is also now a co-owner with his wife, Lori Armas, who is the daughter of Norman R. Murphy, the company’s previous owner and its namesake.

The company expects a smooth transition into the new ownership, as it continues to use the same management team, systems, and facility. The company has installed well over 14,000 dust collection systems throughout the country.

N.R. Murphy has always been a family-owned company. It began in 1943 when William Murphy managed Preston Price Air Conditioning. In 1948, he renamed the company Murphy Sheet Metal and switched the focus to supplying and installing dust-collection equipment.

As the firm continued to grow and expand its customer base, Robert Murphy took it over in 1956, and his son, Norman R. Murphy, became vice president when the company moved to its present location at 430 Franklin Boulevard in Cambridge six years later.

In 1966, Norm Murphy bought the company from his father, and it became N.R. Murphy Limited. This transition began a 52-year period during which the company focused primarily on producing dust collectors.

In 1972, N. R. Murphy Limited partnered with Rodgers Machinery, an American company, and formed Murphy-Rodgers Inc. in Los Angeles. Murphy-Rodgers Inc. manufactured products based on N.R. Murphy’s designs and concepts for the U.S. market, and N.R. Murphy Ltd. manufactured dust-collection products for the Canadian and export markets. The partnership lasted until the closure of Murphy-Rodgers Inc. in 2010, yet N.R. Murphy has kept its American customer base. See http://nrmurphy.com.